Wiley and Virginia Library Consortium VIVA announce three year open access agreement

Global research and education leader Wiley today announced a three year open access agreement with VIVA, a consortium of more than seventy libraries and academic institutions throughout the US state of Virginia, to begin in 2022.

The agreement, which expands on a previous pilot between Wiley and VIVA, will allow researchers at 55 participating Virginia institutions the ability to publish accepted articles open access in all of Wiley’s fully gold and hybrid open access journals, as well as provide access to all subscription content.

The first such agreement between VIVA and a large publisher, this will make an estimated 75% of all research published in Wiley journals by Virginia higher education authors open access in the first year, with the percentage growing each year of the agreement. Research published under the agreement will be accessible for free to anyone who wishes to read it, enabling a wider dissemination of scientific findings among both scholars and the public alike.

“We are pleased to join VIVA in advancing sustainable, scalable pathways to open access publishing, which is an increasing priority for academic institutions across the United States,” said Liz Ferguson, Senior Vice President, Wiley Research Publishing. “Through this agreement, academics across Virginia will gain the open access advantage, garnering more attention for their research and showcasing their contributions on the global stage.”

“We are deeply invested in creating partnerships with publishers that will enable open access for Virginia authors, no matter the size or funding level of their institutions,” said Anne Osterman, Director of VIVA.  “Wiley has been an excellent collaborator in how to craft a model that increases equity in publishing for Virginia and moves toward a more open future in a sustainable way.”

Academic research in the United States is funded through a diverse mix of sources, including the government alongside academic, industry, and philanthropic institutions. With a growing awareness among stakeholders of the value that public access to research brings in solving regional and global challenges, such as public health disparities and climate change, embracing a centralized approach to open access is paramount. Through this agreement, VIVA and Wiley are leading the United States into an open access future.

This agreement also builds on many similar agreements Wiley has negotiated, including with other US-based institutions.